Ibn Ashur's Maqasid-Based Methodology of Qur'anic Interpretation: A Hermeneutic and Epistemological Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59890/ijels.v4i7.53Keywords:
Qur'anic Hermeneutics, Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah, Islamic Epistemology, Interpretive Authority, Teleological Interpretation, Ibn ʿĀshūr, Contemporary TafsirAbstract
Contemporary Qur'anic interpretation requires methodological frameworks capable of reconciling textual fidelity with contemporary ethical and social realities. Although Muhammad al-Ṭāhir Ibn ʿĀshūr's theory of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah has been widely discussed, existing scholarship has primarily examined its legal dimensions, while its function as an integrated hermeneutic and epistemological methodology for Qur'anic interpretation remains insufficiently explored. This study aims to analyse Ibn ʿĀshūr's maqāṣid-based interpretive methodology by examining its theoretical foundations, interpretive procedures, and epistemological assumptions. Employing a qualitative textual-hermeneutic approach, the research analyses al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr and Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah al-Islāmiyyah through systematic document analysis, thematic coding, and hermeneutic-epistemological interpretation. The findings identify five principal components of Ibn ʿĀshūr's methodology: the eight Qur'anic maqāṣid as the interpretive orientation, inductive reasoning (istiqrāʾ), textual-bayānī analysis, mutawātir Sunnah as epistemic validation, and maqāṣid as the primary source of interpretive authority. These components collectively form an integrated interpretive framework that harmonises linguistic analysis, purposive reasoning, and contextual application. This study contributes to contemporary Qur'anic hermeneutics by reconceptualising maqāṣid not merely as an objective of Islamic law but as a comprehensive hermeneutic and epistemological framework for interpreting the Qur'an, thereby advancing discussions on interpretive authority, Islamic epistemology, and the renewal of Qur'anic studies.
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